Ink Shades
by Night-Parfait
Summary: After an unexplained accident as a child, Malik's shadow goes missing, but when he finds it again, its love at first sight. Wait something feels wrong here. Malik now has to choose between his love or their life. Malik/marik, y/yy, b/r, mild hints of k/j and lime.
1. Empty Shadow

_Thank you for taking the time to read Ink Shades! This is a Malik/Marik centered fanfiction. _

_As always, I do not own Yugioh! _

* * *

**_Ink Shades_**

**_Chapter. 1-Empty shadow_**

I died once for three months.

It isn't something I remember. I just remember waking up one day on a stone slate, about to be prepared for my burial. How I ended up there or anything before that moment is blank. It was like I had been born then, at age eight. However, since then, something has never been right with me. The lack of memory was nothing I was concerned with, but the _emptiness_ of my shadow.

It wasn't something anyone had noticed, but _I_ had noticed it. It was lighter, like a painter had been using heavy ink while painting shadows and ran short on mine. As though his ink stone was dry and used up, so his only hope was to load his brush with water and paint a completely lacking shadow, a see-through wash of a shadow that would not be noticed amongst the others.

It was just like me, the kind of person who would disappear into the crowd if I didn't make a desperate attempt to do otherwise.

"Malik, are you getting up or not?" Isis, my sister, asked in an irritated tone from behind the flimsy wooden door. I was on my bed, white cotton sheets tangled with my legs, laying there naked. She knocked again, harder this time, and I still didn't respond.

I moved the sheets off my legs, stood and pulled on my boxers, then my black pants, then my purple shirt that barely covered my stomach. I picked up the gold arm pieces and carefully slipped them onto my arms. I picked up the gold earrings and with equal carefulness, I attached them to my ears. I ran my hands through my hair quickly as the door began to move under Isis's hard knocks. I ran over and pulled the door open. She stood there irritated.

"It's about time you woke up." She said in a scolding tone. "You said you would help me set up the new display in the museum."

"Let's go to Japan." I said, without even realizing that I had said anything until her eyes widened in surprise and confusion.

"Where did_ that_ come from? Why Japan?" She questioned, moving her weight to one leg and flipping her long black hair back behind her shoulder before crossing her arms. She looked annoyed but I could tell she was patiently waiting for my explanation.

"I just suddenly had the feeling it is somewhere I have to go." I spoke, not quite sure where these words, or this feeling, had suddenly sprouted from. I was never interested in going to Japan the last time I checked. No, in fact, I was rather happy in Egypt, I had spent my whole life here and I intended to finish it up quietly the same way.

Isis stared at me for a long while with her head cocked. I stood unmoving, without much complaint, since I had been a museum guard for the pharaoh exhibition for four years now, and standing around was something I did well. Finally, like a knife through butter, her words cut into the silence.

"Malik, after we set up the display lets go out for some coffee." She ordered quietly before turning on her heel and walking down the hall. I followed after, overwhelmingly curious about what she could possibly want to talk about. Coffee at night always meant she had some talking to do. Last time, it was to tell me she had lost the records of some ancient something or other.

Setting up the display was uneventful. I was in charge of watching everyone else move about placing ancient pieces on their different pedestals and lowering the glass to protect it from damage. I had to make sure no one pocketed anything, or did anything stupid.

There were people on ladders adjusting the lights to give each piece its own little spotlight. Isis was unraveling many of the pieces from the heavy packaging that someone else had placed caringly on them. She was wearing latex gloves, a face mask and an apron. She would hand the pieces she unraveled to other people dressed in the same manner and they would walk, place it, re-place it, and re-place it again. In other words, it is a terribly boring process to keep watch over.

I do like taking peeks at the artifacts though; especially if they were ones I haven't seen yet. This area is famous for its pharaoh exhibits, and I will admit they are interesting the first few times around but after seeing it over a hundred times like I have; it just doesn't have the same flare.

This time, there were new artifacts. I was at odds with this concept, considering this was supposed to be our regular run-of-the-mill selections that filter through here. This particular exhibit came from this area specifically so it is always turning back up here, no changes, nothing new. So why were they pulling out these gold pieces I have never seen before? Isis spotted them and rushed over, closing the box quickly before looking straight at me. She turned her head and said something to the guy that I couldn't quite make out and then everything went back to business as usual.

"Ah, we're finally done." Isis sighed happily, stretching her arms as we walked down the street to the coffee shop. We used to take the motorcycle but then Isis started caring about her hair and stuff like some kind of girl.

"It took way longer than usual," I agreed, "but what was that one box of gold artifacts? I haven't seen those before." Isis looked forward without answering for a long time. We passed three long blocks before she shook her head.

"They were misplaced today; usually they just stay in storage in the back of the museum." Isis finally answered.

"Why is that? They looked like they would be popular…gold usually is."

"I'm sure they would be, but it's not something we can display so lightly."

I furrowed my brows. My sister, my very frank sister, was skirting around the point. I sighed and gave up. Once she decided this or that, it is too much of a hassle to change her mind. Then again, we were walking to her favorite place to talk, so maybe she was considering telling me later. Nothing was said again until we reached the double glass doors of the overly modern coffee shop. We walked in and ordered our drinks, Isis paid for them, and we sat down in our favorite set of chairs around the outside patio area of the place.

Isis' iced coffee was coated in napkins- a weird habit of sorts. The light was hitting us in a way where our shadows sprawled across the sidewalk in length. Mine paled in comparison to Isis' like always. It was almost invisible; looking extra stupid because this washed out shadow of mine was holding a normal, dark, shadow of a coffee cup. I sighed and glanced up at Isis to see her looking at it, which shocked me, but she didn't look surprised. She looked troubled. I had always thought my shadow was light, but I never thought that anyone else noticed it. Feeling oddly naked in my sister's presence all of a sudden, I shifted in my seat uncomfortably.

She cleared her throat and opened her mouth but didn't say anything. Instead she took a sip of her drink and used the straw to stir it though the motion was entirely unnecessary. She looked around the area casually before looking back at uncomfortable me ignoring my drink all together.

"I never really thought you would mention Japan again." She said suddenly, catching my attention within seconds. I looked at her unable to hide my perplexed expression. When have I ever mentioned Japan? Why would I ever mention Japan? Her expression became strange after she assessed my reaction.

"I figured the day would come when you would look for your shadow again, but I was hoping it wouldn't." She replied honestly. My mouth opened on its own, and stayed gaping. I couldn't control it. She spoke again. "I managed to get in quite a bit of connections and cash secured ahead of time for this possibility so it shouldn't be hard to leave sometime tomorrow."

"By ahead of time you mean when?" I asked.

"Oh, several years now." She replied without batting an eyelash.

"How did you know about my shadow?"

"Really? Everyone knows about your shadow. You'd have to be blind to not notice such a washed out shadow." She scoffed, flipping her hair behind her shoulder. I was baffled this conversation was even happening. In this modern day and age who would think things like shadows ever 'washed out'?

"What did you mean by looking for it?" I asked. She paused for a brief moment before looking me dead in the eye.

"That thing that happened when you were about eight and the shadow all belong together. Of course you would have to figure out why half of your shadow abandoned you."

"What happened when I was eight?"

"Who knows? If you can't remember there's no telling. All we know is that you somehow got yourself stuck in a basement infested with snakes and rats. When we found you, you were murmuring to yourself in another language like a lunatic before your heart stopped beating. You at least remember dying don't you?"

"You don't think I actually died do you?"

"You were pronounced dead by the village doctor."

"But I'm alive now."

"Alive with half a shadow."

We fell silent for a while, sipping our drinks and thinking about the moments taking place. The air was muggy and disgusting. Mosquitos kept flipping around me and buzzing by my ear. I brushed them away and used a spare napkin to wipe off some of the sweat from my forehead, careful not to mess up my bangs.

"The language, I thought it was some ancient language, but after I asked some professionals, I found out it was Japanese." Isis said, taking it upon herself to coat my drink in an equal amount of napkins. I looked at it and raised my brow. "It's dripping everywhere." She replied in defensive tone. I shrugged and leaned back in my chair.

"You were really weird too…for a time. Sometimes you became angry, other times you became calm. It was utterly terrifying. Then one day- poof!" Isis threw her hands up animatedly "-your shadow became grey and everything was over. Your calm passive aggressive side won and that was that." I furrowed my brow.

"I'm not passive aggressive." I frowned. She laughed.

"You were when you were little. Now you're just a big wimp." She replied. I tossed a napkin at her and her face became stern in an instant. She took her straw out of her empty cup and threw it at me-hitting me square in the face before I had the chance to react. I could have got her back but it was too much trouble. I finally took a sip of my watered down iced tea.

"None of this really makes any sense. I don't really want to go to Japan but I asked to out of nowhere. I can't really recall what happened but I know that it did….my shadow is screwed up and that's a problem I have never heard anyone else having before." I listed out. Isis nodded at each point, closing her eyes, almost as though she expected each word and sentence to be said as I had said it.

"So shall we arrange to leave then?" She questioned. Without being so sure, I nodded once.

* * *

_If you have the time, or enjoy/hated what you read- please tell me about it I'd love to hear from you~R&R_

_Love,_

_Nightparfait_


	2. New Leaf

_Thank you for taking the time to read Ink Shades! This is a Malik/Marik centered fanfiction._

_As always, I do not own Yugioh!_

* * *

**_Ink Shades_**

**_Chapter. 2-New Leaf_**

Before the sun even rose the next day, we were loading our luggage into a dusty old jeep missing its top. Isis was handing out heavy stacks of paper, probably instructions, to every person in our general area. I sat on top of an old wooden chest of Isis' as I watched all of the men moving everything around and following Isis' instruction. My suitcase passed by, as did a Isis' and then our storage chests. Wait a minute…

"Isis! Why are they putting all of our stuff here?" I asked, jumping from the wooden chest and walking over to Isis.

"Don't you know? We are going to be moving there for the time being."

"Moving?" I blinked my eyes several times in disbelief. "Why the heck are we moving?"

"Well I'm sure your little situation won't be cured in a night." She said simply, waving off another chest.

"Why didn't you tell me then? I would've waited before leaving!" I complained. I do have friends and stuff I could have said goodbye to.

"Oh nonsense. This way is better- like ripping off a bandaid. I already have the house set up too. It's nice. It's in a little city called Domino. I've never been there but the reviews are wonderful." I groaned and wobbled back over to the chest I was sitting on and plopped back down. Isis always is so decisive it drives me nuts sometimes. I returned back to watching the guys walk by with random bits of our stuff and load it into the jeep. One of the men walked by with a small lacquered box-putting it in larger box inside the jeep. I couldn't help but watch the box the whole time it was in sight. It was such an odd feeling.

"Ready Malik? Everything is loaded up." Isis said, motioning me to sit on the luggage behind the passenger seat since the backseats were taken out to fit in all of our stuff. When I stood up, the men moved the chest I was sitting on with ease to a part in the very back of the jeep. I jumped in and sat on the box behind Isis. The jeep began to move and we were on our way to the port.

It took three whole days, only stopping to refuel and use the restroom, to arrive at the port. There was a large ship waiting for our arrival. A young boy with grey hair stood on the deck looking toward the sea behind the ship rather than at us on the shore. The sailor men ran out and loaded our things a hundred times quicker than the men back at home. Isis walked up the ramp with a confident stride and I followed her with meek, rounded shoulders looking at the wooden foldout stairs beneath our feet.

I honestly had never left Egypt before and I was already feeling nauseous from the stress of the looming unknown. I didn't want to leave. I didn't want to get on this boat but I had to. Now that I walked up these steps- I felt I was going to the place I needed to be.

We shoved off shortly after Isis and I were shown to our own personal rooms, which were oddly on opposite sides of the boat.

"I had initially thought we would take a plane but it seemed to be too much trouble to ship everything." Isis sighed, leaning on the deck railing beside me. "It's not too bad though, you always sleep until noon anyway." The sun had already gone down and we were the only ones here it seems.

"There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of people on this ship though… I think the rooms are vacant on either side of me" I whined. Sure I am eighteen, but I am terrified of this situation and my older sister is all I have right now. I would appreciate it if she were nearby.

"No, they are occupied. It's just that normal people roam the decks BEFORE the sun goes down." She said, overly stressing the word 'before'. I rolled my eyes. "You should try to get some sleep. If there is a problem, which I doubt, the ship isn't that big. You can always come over to my room." She had already begun yawning before the last sentence came from her mouth. She stretched a little bit as she walked in the other direction.

I decided it would be best to get to my room as soon as possible to ensure I was at least somewhat safe. I ran down the hall quickly, turning each corner sharply. I caught sight of my door when I really went in full blast…which was a terrible idea. I slammed hard into the now open door of the room beside mine which caused me to fall onto the floor in a little mess in front of that same grey haired boy.

He looked down on me with a much darker expression than I had initially remembered him having.

"I-I'm sorry I was just trying to get to my room." I stammered in both embarrassment and fear. The look he gave me the moment after that could've killed me.

"Bakura no!" I heard a soft voice yell, and a frail boy with similar looks as this scary hell monster flew into my line of sight grabbing his arms. The guy wasn't moving. He didn't do anything but glare at me, a freakishly terrifying glare, but with this kids reaction you would think he were trying to stab me to death. "Bakura stop. STOP!"

"Ryou." Was the only thing he said but the sound of his voice was so dark it shook my bones. They stood there looking at each other, me still on the floor between their legs.

"I know Bakura but it's okay." The boy, probably Ryou, said gently touching the other boy's hair. I felt at odds with this sight. I couldn't grasp the feeling, it was one I was unfamiliar with but I didn't have too much time to think about it as suddenly I was on my feet. The creepy grey haired guy was holding my arm. I took this as my cue to get my footing back before I scrambled away from him. The not as creepy grey haired boy watched me with a soft expression.

"He looks just like him Ryou."

"It's not our fate to deal with."

"I can't let him-"

"Shhh." The frail version of the hell monster put his finger to his lips. He turned to me, cocking his head cutely. "We apologize for any discomfort. You just look a great deal like someone we know. Please carry on with your evening." He said motioning for me to go to my room. I glanced between the two of them for a minute before turning my heel to make a run for it to Isis' room.

"I can't believe you didn't last twenty minutes on your own." She said flatly, opening the door wide to let me in. She was still wearing her day clothes and shoes. I laughed sheepishly as entered, dead bolting the door. She raised a brow. "So what happened?" She questioned in the same flat tone as she began to put her long black hair up.

"There were these two grey haired boys and one was really creepy and one- well they were both creepy." I said sitting down in the chair beside the bed.

"Your neighbors?"

"One of them…I don't know about the other one."

"So they were just creepy? Tch, that's lame." She said shaking her head. It was creepy though. I felt severely threatened now that I look back at it, threatened and stupidly helpless. To a guy like that, I could never stand a chance.

"There was something weird about them though…I felt threatened and they said I looked like someone they knew…and the littler one was begging the bigger one not to do anything but he was just standing there glaring at me…he didn't move at all." I recalled, slowly.

"Hm, maybe they had some qualms with some other blonde haired Egyptian guy." Isis said, brushing it off. "It does sound a little weird…I guess we should get ready to meet a different sort of people considering we are some ways away from home."

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_If you have the time, or enjoy/hated what you read- please tell me about it I'd love to hear from you~R&R_

_Love,_

_Nightparfait_


	3. Their eyes

**Night-parfait: **Hello everyone! Thank you for waiting for such a long time for this new chapter! I hope that you enjoy it!

_As always, I do not own Yugioh!_

* * *

_**Ink Shades**_

_**Chapter 3.-Their eyes**_

It was sprinkling rain when we got to the shore of Japan. I had never been on a ship before but after this experience, I hope it will not happen again anytime soon. I was more than happy to leave behind those grey-headed creeps. Especially when I caught them looking at me with the oddest of expressions in the mirror in the dining hall on the ship. I shuddered just thinking about it and turned my attention back to the new roads of Japan. We were lucky this time, Isis had a delivery service come to get our stuff so we could take a luxury taxi to our new house in Domino. I had never been in one before so it was pretty fun.

"I didn't know this but apparently a lot of famous people in the gaming industry live in Domino." Isis said as looking out the window as the buildings grew from fisherman huts to skyscrapers.

"So what am I supposed to do when we get there?" I asked, the thought suddenly hitting me. Isis looked at me for a moment as she seemed to realize the same thing I just did. She thought hard for a few moments before shrugging.

"You'll just have to figure it out. We can live comfortably here for a long time. So don't rush things." She responded. I didn't really like the sound of that. However, I did love the sight of the building we were pulling into the driveway of. It was a nice two story house with a freakishly stunning garden surrounding it. A new motorcycle sat beside the driveway. Isis smiled.

"Is that mine?" I asked as we exited the taxi. Isis paid the driver, letting him get on with his day before walking over with a wide smile.

"I thought you'd need some inspiration to get out into the city." She replied. I shook my head, unable to contain my smile. She opened her bag and pulled out a ring with three keys on it. "This is the motorcycle key, this is the key to the front door and this is the key to the back door." She said, holding up each key as she listed its place. She tossed them to me. "I'm going to go pick out some furniture, you go ahead and pick up our cellphones, here's the map, and then come back when you're ready."

I nodded and watched her enter the house. I got on my new bike and tried the handles first. It was a really nice bike. I revved up the engine and it was satisfyingly smooth. I sped off in the direction of the phone shop. I passed many stores as I gained on the shops location. It was much different than being in my hometown. Everything was clean, no dust or sand anywhere, and everything was modern.

There were people everywhere wearing all sorts of fancy crisp clean uniforms or designer labels. There were a few oddballs here and there wearing other things but they still looked very well dressed. I felt a little out of place in my midriff purple shirt and black cargo pants especially since I kept catching the eyes of the people I passed by.

* * *

I made it back home in time for sun down. The phones were nice but kind of useless at the moment since they would be used to call each other and I had them both. Isis had yet to come back. I took this opportunity to walk the garden, which had cute little lantern looking lights down the back way. I tried to make out some stars in the sky but there were only a few here. I guess we were hogging all of the stars in my hometown…

"Hey."

My eyes widened in shock and I stumbled back. I looked around and easily spotted the short person standing in the entrance way of the garden.

"What do you want?" I asked with a shaky voice.

"I didn't mean to scare you! I'm your neighbor. I live in the game shop next door." I stopped and looked over the garden wall to see a three story high building with a neon sign reading 'games' that was currently turned off. "I came over earlier but no one was home."

"Oh.." I said without really meaning to. I walked over to the guy to get a better look.

"Do you want to come over for a bit?" He asked. I decided it might be a good idea considering there wasn't any furniture inside yet when I last went in to drop off Isis' phone. We walked over to the game shop and went inside.

"Did you invite our little neighbor over Yugi?" A raspy-voiced, short old man asked, coming from the backroom with a box of books. "Ahjbodgvdlks." The old man gasped upon seeing me, falling to the ground and dropping everything.

"Grandpa, are you okay?" He asked, running over to his side. As he helped the old man up, he looked at me, gasping and almost falling over like the old man did. Strange…he had just been talking to me like normal moments before…

"It's not him Yugi." A deep voice sounded, followed by footsteps as a lookalike to the Yugi boy appeared at the foot of the stairs. Yugi sighed in relief. "What is your name?" The boy asked.

"My name is Malik Ishtar." I replied. He nodded looking me up and down; he paused at my shadow before looking up at me with a sharp eye.

"It's nice to have you Malik. Please, take a seat." He offered, motioning me to sit on the sofa which was covered with all sorts of game covers and comic books. "My name is Yami. The one who invited you is Yugi, and the older gentleman is Solomon." Yugi and Solomon sat cautiously away from me. These people, whoever they thought I was, were terrified of me. I felt as though if anybody could point me in the right direction of my shadow, it was them.

"Thank you for having me…" I replied looking around before looking Yami directly in the eyes. "You know something about my shadow don't you?" I questioned, making the tension in the room much worse…if that was somehow possible. His gaze turned cold and serious, it was terrifying, and I could feel something almost unnatural about him.

I stood up immediately and backed away. Why? I had no idea. I just felt incredibly endangered. His gaze softened, but I couldn't stop backing up until I finally hit the wall. I could feel my body trembling and prickle with goose bumps as though I was face to face with a terrifying ghost and not a real person. I couldn't understand my actions or why I was so suddenly afraid.

"I don't believe this is the time or place for a conversation of that level…I think it would be too much for you to handle at this time." Yami decided aloud, his voice causing my hands to shake. "However, I do have some advice for you. Never, ever, meet eyes with someone who doesn't have a shadow." Immediately my eyes snapped down to the ground by Yami's feet. There was nothing there. No shadow. "I won't hurt you, but there are those who will."

"Where is your shadow?" I stammered. A small hand touched my arm making me nearly jump out of my skin. My eyes jumped to Yugi who was now standing beside me. I looked for his shadow and was a little relieved, but perplexed to see his looked a great deal like mine. Washed and empty. My phone rang in my pocket and I picked it up quickly.

"Malik? Where are you?"

I relaxed at the sound of Isis' voice.

"I'll come home now." I responded with desperation.

"Ok, I'll see you in a few." She replied. I hung up and looked at the two twin looking guys and Solomon.

"I have to go." I blurted out. For some odd reason, I was uncomfortable here and I needed to get out as soon as physically possible. Of course I would come back here. I had to, but next time I will be more prepared.

"Malik, we wish to have you over again sometime. Maybe we can help you." Yami offered. I nodded quickly, waved at the other two and bolted.

* * *

"He had no shadow?" Isis asked raising her fine, penciled on, eyebrow. I nodded slowly, taking a sip of some hot tea. She tilted her head leaning back on the brand new, ridiculously ornate white and gold couch she had bought earlier today. This house was completely covered in white and gold furniture, I have no idea how she thought that it would stay white. I could only be thankful she spared my room and bought deep purple bedding and black sheets. "What else, besides that, caused you to come home in such a terrified state?" She questioned seriously.

"I don't know…when I met his eyes, I felt terrified….like he could really hurt me and he would…but he didn't seem like he would…it just felt like it." I blurted out, trying to convey that odd feeling that I could not even seem to grasp myself. Isis nodded.

"He did say not to meet his eyes…maybe you should return tomorrow to find out why." She suggested. I cringed. I was in no way ready for that.

"I…" I trailed off, unable to come up with any excuse that Isis couldn't rebut. She was great at making me do things she thought were necessary. Strangely enough, she did not scold me as she always did.

"It's fine. Like I said, we have plenty of time here, and maybe right now is not the time for you to find out what exactly is going on…" Isis commented, leaning over to take a sip of her tea. My eyes nearly popped out of my skull.

"Why aren't you making me go over there?" I asked defensively. Isis gave me a look as she put her teacup back down on the white and gold coffee table. I probably will never be used to this ridiculous furniture.

"You don't remember how you were when you had first come from the basement that day. I have no intentions of reliving that moment. So for you to find your shadow, we will go at your pace." She said firmly. I could tell by her expression that whatever she had seen of me that day must've been terrible. "So instead of going over to the neighbors, you should prepare for school. Unfortunately it is something that is required by law for people under the age of twenty." I groaned.

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**Night-Parfait: **Loved it? Hated it? Tell me what you think! Thanks for reading!


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